Finally, some good BART news: Transbay Tube seismic work done

For commuters who’ve grown weary of extra-long waits for late-night BART trains or those simply ready to hear some good news from the beleaguered transit agency, there’s cause for celebration, — or at least an end to the cursing.

BART announced Monday that seismic retrofitting work on the 3.6-mile Transbay Tube has been completed, — about six months earlier than anticipated. Not only is the tube now more earthquake resistant, but also those frustrating, late-night mid-week service delays are now over.

BART started the work in March, with construction crews from California Engineering Crews installing steel plates inside the tube, which required trains heading through the tube on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after 10 p.m. to take turns using a single track.

The transit agency expected the work, and ensuing delays averaging 15 to 20 minutes, to take 14 months, but it took just eight.

“We are thrilled the work was finished early and BART passengers will no longer be inconvenienced from this phase of our larger project to make the tube as resilient as possible,” said Tom Horton, group manager of BART’s Earthquake Safety Program.

According to BART, crews of 15 to 20 worked quickly each night to get the work done in time for the morning commute. Using trucks outfitted to ride on rails, they hauled the four4-ton steel plates into the closed side of the tube, bolted them to the walls, then welded them together from end to end.

More work still needs to be done to bolster the tube and parts of the rest of the system, including 34 stations, 22 miles of elevated track and 1,918 support columns. The just-completed work on the tube cost $7.7 million.

BART officials say the overall seismic retrofit project is on budget. In 2004, voters in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, which make up the BART district, passed a bond measure to raise $980 million of the $1.2 billion cost of bolstering the original part of the system.